Biking: Moving from the gym to the street can be tough

Published 12:54 pm, Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Athletes training for the Tall City Triathlon leave the the parking lot of Peyton's Bikes where a group meets every Wednesday as part of a 10-week training program. Chaney Mitchell/Reporter-Telegram

Athletes training for the Tall City Triathlon leave the the parking lot of Peyton's Bikes where a group meets every Wednesday as part of a 10-week training program. Chaney Mitchell/Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Chaney Mitchell

Biking: Moving from the gym to the street can be tough

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She stands over her bike in the parking lot, pumping air into the tires and readying it for the road. Her son, Alex Galindo, stands next to her, also preparing for the trek.

It's the last week of a 10-week training program designed to get competitors ready for this year's YMCA Tall City Triathlon.

And if you ask Debra Hughes, it was only recently — when she realized she would be turning 40 — that she wanted to do the race.

"I did not want to go over the hill without doing my first triathlon," she said.

Hughes always has biked at the YMCA by taking spinning classes. She also is a runner. Those two legs of the triathlon come easier than the swimming, she said.

Still, moving from the gym to the streets on a bike can be just as tough.

Having always exercised on the stationery bikes at the gym, Hughes purchased a road bike specifically for the triathlon and for training. She rides out on Highway 191 at least three times a week, clocking between 21 and 28 miles total.

By hitting the road with her bicycle, the training has introduced her to a new sport, she said.

Every Wednesday, the 10-week program participants meet at Peyton's Bikes on North Midkiff Road to set out for group rides.

That ride is something Hughes and Galindo do together.

Galindo signed up for the triathlon after being inspired by his mom. A swimmer for Midland High School, he added the hardest part for him has been the running portion of the race. But taking the bike out on the streets also has had some difficulties.

"It's not hard but there's just a lot more to it," he said.

David Ham, owner of Peyton's Bikes, has been involved with the triathlon for the last 12 years and participates by being out on the course to help those competing.

Every year, he's watched new groups of triathletes participate and join the training group.

"Anybody that is in reasonable health can go do it," he said.

Still, Ham encourages those who've signed up to go out and train first. While some may think cycling is the easiest of the three legs of the event, it is the longest and competitors must be prepared.

After swimming 500 meters at COM Aquatics Center, triathletes will take to the streets on their bikes and ride on Wadley Avenue to Big Spring Street to the Loop 250 service road. From there, they will continue to the Uncle's Convenience store south of town then return to the COM to finish the race with a 5K run through Windlands Park. The total amount of biking will cover 13.1 miles.

While cycling may seem easier than swimming or running to some, officials say athletes still should prepare for it.

And some may even come to love the sport like Hughes and Galindo have.

"New riders have bought new bicycles and decided that it was fun and they'd like to keep doing it," Ham said.